General elections were held in the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

on 24 April 2023. The governing

Virgin Islands Party The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a political party in the British Virgin Islands. It is presently led by Acting Premier Natalio Wheatley. It is the oldest active political party in the British Virgin Islands, and it has won more general elect ...

(VIP) remained the largest party in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

but lost its majority resulting in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...

. The VIP won six seats, with the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) and the National Democratic Party (NDP) each winning three seats, and Progressives United (PU) winning a single seat. There followed a period of intense discussions between the party to either prise away members or to try and form a coalition between parties. In the end former first lady Lorna Smith agreed that she would join the VIP as a single person in coalition to give them a working majority and keep them in power.

Background

The

normally sits in four-year terms. The

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

must dissolve the House within four years of the date when the House first meets after a general election unless it has been dissolved sooner. Once the House is dissolved a general election must be held after at least 21 days, but not more than two months after the dissolution of the House. The elections are the first since the 2021 Commission of Inquiry which recommended the suspension of the Territory's constitution after finding that " most everywhere, the principles of good governance, such as openness, transparency and even the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

, are ignored". Ultimately the UK government did not act upon that recommendation. In response to the report the Territory formed a "

unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...

" including members of the opposition National Democratic Party (NDP) and Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. The elections also follow the arrest of the country's

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Andrew Fahie Andrew Alturo Fahie (, born 7 August 1970) is a British Virgin Islands politician who served as Premier of the British Virgin Islands from 2019 to 2022. He was also the chairman of the Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands from 201 ...

, in Miami on charges relating to drug smuggling. Fahie was removed as Premier, representative of the First District, and leader of his political party.

Natalio Wheatley Natalio Dixon Wheatley (born 2 June 1980) is a British Virgin Islands politician currently serving as Premier of the Virgin Islands, Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He is the grandson of former Chief Minister, Willard Wheatley. He has at t ...

succeeded him as Premier and party leader.

Electoral system

The House of Assembly has a total of 15 members, 13 of whom are members elected by the public to serve a four-year term, plus two ''ex-officio'' non-voting members: the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and the

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. Of the 13 elected members, nine are elected via

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

to represent territorial district seats, and four are elected on a territory-wide "at-large" basis via

plurality block voting Plurality block voting, also known as plurality-at-large voting, block vote or block voting (BV) is a non- proportional voting system for electing representatives in multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of sea ...

. Although there was a delay in announcing the date of the elections, campaigning began some weeks before the it was announced. After the House of Assembly was dissolved for the election on 10 March 2023 there was then a short delay before the election date was confirmed.

Parties and candidates

Virgin Islands Party

The incumbent

(VIP) was led by Fahie in the previous general election, but following his arrest on charges of drug smuggling offences, leadership of the party passed to Wheatley. The party was the only political party to contest every single seat.

National Democratic Party

The NDP is led by Marlon Penn (D8). They fielded nine candidates.

Progressive Virgin Islands Movement

The leader of the PVIM,

Ronnie Skelton Since the restoration of democracy in the British Virgin Islands in 1950, only a comparatively small number of persons have been elected to political office. Although elections are held approximately every three or four years, the small size ...

, failed to win a seat in the 2019 election, and so Mitch Turnbull (D2) assumed leadership of the party in the House. However, for the 2023 campaign Skelton resumed leadership of the party. The party's ranks were also bolstered when representative Shereen Flax-Charles (at-large)

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to join the PVIM.

Progressives United

Julian Fraser Julian Fraser (born 5 July 1950) is a British Virgin Islander politician who formerly belonged to the opposition Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands, and in August 2018 formed a new party, Progressives United. He is the current L ...

, the current

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

by default being the only member of the House of Assembly not in the "unity government", is the leader and only sitting member of the Progressives United (PU). On 1 April 2023 the PU announced a 'soft alliance' with the PVIM. No PU candidates were announced other than Fraser.

Candidates stepping down

Mark Vanterpool (NDP) confirmed that he would not be defending his District 4 seat and was retiring from politics.

Candidates crossing the floor

As often happens in British Virgin Islands politics, a number of candidates were contesting the elections for new parties having "

" after being originally elected representing a different party. Flax-Charles left the ruling VIP to join the PVIM, and former NDP representative,

Alvera Maduro-Caines Alvera Maduro-Caines is a British Virgin Islands politician. She is a member of the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands for the Sixth District, a position that she has held since the 2011 general election. She was originally elected ...

, left her party to join the VIP.

Developments

Merger talks

The NDP and PVIM conducted exploratory merger talks, but ultimately those talks were not successful. The PVIM had originally been formed when a number of members of the NDP split away and formed a competing party before the 2019 election. Despite the absence of any formal alliance, it is noteworthy that in only two of the nine districts are candidates from the two parties contesting against each other. On 1 April 2023 the PVIM subsequently announced a 'soft alliance' with the PU. No PU party candidates were announced other than Fraser in District 3.

Platforms and election conduct

Polling

No public polling was published.

Policies and platforms

None of the political parties published a political manifesto, but a number of issues arose in press commentary and at party rallies. The opposition parties tried to make capital out of the arrest of Fahie and the allegations of corruption in the Commission on Inquiry report in relation to the VIP government, treating the election as "a referendum on the corrupt VIP and the corrupt Premier". Former VIP leader, Fraser, said the party has no place in government. Another sensitive issue which was discussed is the controversial Retiring Allowances (Legislative Services) Amendment Act, 2021 (referred to on social media as the "Greedy Bill") which gave extremely generous payments over a number of years to retiring members of the House of Assembly. The NDP pledged to repeal the Act, calling "political wickedness and greed". The VIP hit back, accusing NDP politicians of profiting equally from the act despite criticising it. The PVIM indicated that it would make reform of the NHI scheme a priority commitment in government. Party leader, Skelton, spent eight years as Minister for Health in an NDP-led government.

Bribery allegations

Allegations of political candidates or their paying persons to vote for them were reported in local news. The allegation was made by Flax-Charles, a PVIM candidate, during a radio broadcast. She did not name any politicians or agents, but did say that it related to residents in

Virgin Gorda Virgin Gorda () is the third-largest island (after Tortola and Anegada) and second-most populous of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Geography Located at about 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area o ...

. She also did not clarify whether she had reported her concerns to the Electoral Commissioner.

Results

District seats

Karl Dawson won the seat formerly held by Fahie. Outside of by-elections, he becomes only the third person after Fahie and Lavity Stoutt to win District One in its history. Incumbent Melvin Turnbull won the Second District for the third time in a row. Incumbent Fraser won District Three for the seventh time in a row. His seven general election wins are fourth most in BVI history. Luce Hodge-Smith (VIP) won the 4th District at her second attempt. Incumbent Kye Rymer easily defended his seat. Former NDP party leader, Myron Walwyn, won a surprisingly easy victory over incumbent, Maduro-Caines. Incumbent Wheatley fended off his lone challenger in District Seven. Marlon Penn won his fourth consecutive contest in District Eight, continuing the Penn family domination of that seat. Vincent Wheatley held on to his seat amid a crowded field as Coy Levens and Flax-Charles split the anti-government vote.

At-large seats

Unusually the four at-large seats were split amongst three different parties. Incumbent Sharie de Castro was returned, but other VIP incumbents Neville Smith and Carvin Malone were ousted. Skelton returns to the house after losing his seat in 2019, and is joined by new member Stacy "Buddha" Mather. Former first lady Lorna Smith also won for the first time in her first contest for the NDP.

Aftermath

Coalition discussions

Because of the division of seats, no party had won overall control of the House of Assembly. There followed a period of intense discussions between the parties to either pry away members or to try and form a coalition between parties. Within 24 hours Lorna Smith, who campaigned as a member of the NDP (and whose husband had led three NDP governments), agreed that she would join the VIP as a single person in coalition to give them a working majority and keep them in power. Almost immediately there followed an announcement that she would be the Deputy Premier in the new government.

Cabinet

Unusually, the new government and ministers were sworn in but without confirming ministerial portfolios. Party leader, Natalio Wheatley, was sworn in as Premier, and Lorna Smith was sworn in as Deputy Premier. Kye Rymer, Vincent Wheatley and Sharie de Castro were also sworn in as Ministers but without specifying their portfolios, and Karl Dawson and Luce Hodge-Smith were sworn in as Junior Ministers. This effectively brought an end to the cross-party "unity government" which was put in place following the 2021 Commission of Inquiry. Ronnie Skelton was confirmed as the

Other

The Premier, Natalio Wheatley, called upon all parties to put the election behind them and move forward together. Predictably, a great deal of the local commentary on the election focussed upon the shock move when Lorna Smith switched from a lifetime supporting the NDP to join the VIP - a party she had repeatedly and loudly attacked throughout her campaign. Shortly after the election the NDP announced that she was being expelled from the party. Separately, the Supervisor for Elections called for a wholesale reform of the Election Act ahead of the next general election.

References

{{British Virgin Islands elections

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Elections in the British Virgin Islands British Virgin